When I was asked to write an article about the lack of diversity in Goshen College, I was baffled for several reasons, but primarily about whether it is really a diversity problem that this school faces. 

There's plenty of students that face these forms of micro aggressions, blatant disrespect or worse everyday and they choose to bottle it up inside because they feel as if nothing will be done.

— Dontaye Albert

It may seem like GC’s lack of diversity comes from the heavy white community in this town, but nearly fifty percent of the student body are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and this number is sure to rise in the upcoming years both in faculty and students.

With this statistic in mind, why does GC still feel less diverse when you compare it to other colleges? I sense that there are two culprits: lack of listening and lack of communication itself. 

This school has several different BIPOC clubs who all work together to try and make this community better for all students no matter what race they identify as. 

They put on several different events in hopes that people of different identities will show up and support each other to learn about what others are feeling. 

And yet, there is a vast majority of students on this campus that either don’t go, or they do go but they sit there on their phones until the event is over.

Additionally, these acts of seemingly not caring can be seen with faculty as well. 

In meetings that I have been to, I hear students of different grades talk about how they’re not being listened to, not being cared for or being entirely ignored, and you cannot help but wonder if it has something to do with the color of their skin. And that thought sticks with all of us, making us wonder if we are worthy of the time and consideration that white peers seem to get.

And this points to the lack of communication, or lack of speaking out, that we experience on this campus. There’s plenty of students that face these forms of microaggressions, blatant disrespect or worse everyday and they choose to bottle it up inside because they feel as if nothing will be done. 

However, this isn’t the case at all. With your voice there can be changes at this school that will help future generations. 

We are needed here to raise awareness of the people being treated unfairly and what they plan on doing to make sure these injustices do not happen again. 

However, none of this can be possible without first speaking out against the problems that this school does have, and this goes to everyone.

We need to work together so that no one else has to write an article about the lack of diversity at the school they are attending. Go to meetings that are run by 

BIPOC; actually listen during convos and discuss what you took away from them; talk about what’s going on in our college community; connect with others you usually wouldn’t talk to — just do something. 

You can’t fix a broken institution with a broken community.